I confess I never thought of door-to-door as an effective way to sell wine.
So when I opened the door to a sad-eyed fellow, rain streaming off his
rumpled trench coat and thin white hair, I expected a pitch for insulation
or perhaps some gadget.

I should mention that the farm here is more than isolated. On a dead end
miles from the village, we see more hikers discovering the park than sales
people. Basically you come here if you've got business, like the bee man
delivering honey every few months, or the boulangere three times a week
with the bread.

Eyes a bit downcast he asked if we were interested in buying wine. Adele
was suspicious, but I looked out and saw an old van, with "vins fins" showing
through the mud, parked outside. So I invited him in, and he hurried back with
one of those wide sample cases French salesmen treasure so.

It was a short visit. Turned out I'd already tried one of his stock while purchasing
foie gras from a local producer. An OK Jurancon but not great balance (too cloying)
and not worth buying. The others were thin reds, cheap in price and flavor;
the man seemed depressed and nearly embarrassed, he quickly retreated muttering
"not your style is all." We felt bad and wondered how the poor guy can make a
living, but what can you do?

This was just after Christmas. Flash ahead to last weekend. I was out mowing
the lawn, when I car pulls up. Out jumps a spry old lady, looking for directions
to a local Dolmen for a book she's writing. She was very polite, so we conversed
for a while, at which point her son, (although in his 60s), acting as chauffeur,
joined us. Conversation continued -- as is often true in the deep country we knew
some of the same people -- and it turned out that he is a door-to-door wine
salesman. So, we arranged for him to come back with the inevitable sample case.

Now, a different kettle of fish. This is clearly someone with a culture and love of
wine. He represents several producers in the SW. Only 4 wines in fit in the sample
case, so this is what we tried.

1. Ch. de Gourgazaud, Chardonnay, VdP d'Oc, 2005. "elevé en fut"

Big custard nose, rich malo chard with no new oak, good balance, but
very new world. Not really my cup of tea, but Adele liked and at 7.75 EU
clearly a good deal. Bought 6. Tried with scallops in bread sauce last night,
did very well.

2. Ch. de Gourgazuad, Minervois 05.

Brambly nose, funky mourvedre (40%) in the mouth, tannic but decent balance,
a little one dimensional but what do you want for 6.75 EU? Still, Adele wasn't
thrilled so we passed, even though I liked it.

3. Borie de Maurel, Minervois 05 "Esprit d'Automne"

This is the entry level wine of the well known domaine. Their cuvee Sylla has
gotten raves all over (Parker noted it in the 90s) which is why it costs 25 EU.
But this blend of grenache and carignan is 7.50 EU, and it opened immediately
with a warm and balanced nose of bramble and spice, in the mouth pepper,
nice balance again for near term drinking, solid lush fruit, herbs, and excellent length.
We bought 12, great deal, highly recommended.

4. Ch. Salitis Cabardès 03 "Cuvée prémium"

I'm sure I've had a Cabardès sometime, but can't remember much about it.
This one is 5 cepages, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, côt (malbec), syrah and
grenache. I wondered about the assemblage and vine age; our salesman
didn't know but then actually telephoned back later after getting the info
from the owners: 40 % grenache, 30% cabernet, 20% syrah the others in
smaller quantity, average vine age in this cuvée is 30 years. Tight and
structured stone fruit, leather in the nose and a bit of bandaid that blew off.
Fine structure and balance, concentration of kirsch but a little tight. I
am very suspicious of 2003 especially from the south, but they certainly
did a fine job under the circumstances. I have a few stylistic quibbles here
but it may be that it will relax in a few years. A steal at 7 EU, we bought 12.

So having once again remarked to Toto on the unlikelyhood of this being
the Sunflower State, we arranged for a next visit with different samples for
mid May, then sat down to lunch and a comparison of our two salesmen.

Even though we bought 30 bottles from the second, it's clearly low margin
stuff. After factoring 10 EU for gas, he probably made around 50 EU, for
an hour tasting, opened 4 bottles fresh. Plus he has to go down to get the
wine, (he ships only a little), which must cost a bundle. And, he deals only
with individuals, not restaurants. (One wonders: why?) What a tough way
to make a living...

-E

--
Emery Davis
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